Glacier Institute nears fundraising goal to restore Big Creek facility
Glacier Institute's Big Creek Outdoor Education Center, located along the North Fork of the Flathead River. (photo provided)
The Glacier Institute is $200,000 away from reaching its $1.7 million goal to restore the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center.
The Glacier Institute is the educational partner of Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest. The organization’s Big Creek Outdoor Education Center, also a historic Flathead National Forest Ranger Station, is located along the North Fork of the Flathead River near the Camas entrance of the park.
An email from Executive Director Anthony Nelson said the institute is expecting to move into Phase 2 of their restoration project in October.
According to the Glacier Institute’s website, personnel have spent years "making do" with piecemeal renovations and ad hoc repairs that have cost more time and money. The goal is to restore original hardwood floors, the structural soundness of the buildings’ foundations, remove aging and decaying asbestos flooring, install family style restrooms with ADA accessibility, and install modern plumbing and new insulation, among other repairs.
For more information about the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center restoration project, contact Nelson at 406-755-1211.
Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.